The Wild Frontiers of Poteau Switch

During the 1880’s, Poteau Switch was well known as a rough and tumble town.  While most citizens made a go at civilization, it would be close to fifteen years before the law finally prevailed.  The years immediately preceding and following the construction of the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad were some of the wildest times for this young town. 

Poteau Switch, 1890s

 An 1806 territorial law banned the sale of alcohol to American Indians. Almost thirty years later, on June 30, 1834, Congress also prohibited distilleries in Indian Territory.  Even though these laws were on the books, they did not deter anyone from slipping across the Arkansas border to purchase liquor.  In fact, these laws were rarely enforced. 

Before statehood, Indian Territory was governed by U.S. Marshals out of Ft. Smith.  The Native Americans living in Indian Territory were self-governed.  Because of this, the U.S. Marshals only had authority over white U.S. citizens.  The few marshals that policed Indian Territory received little supervision, and some were almost as corrupt as the outlaws that freely roamed the future state.  

The marshals were paid very little, so they focused on the cases that would earn them the most money.  Chasing down whiskey peddlers was not high on their priority list.

While alcohol was outlawed in Indian Territory, it was freely available in Arkansas.  After the St. Louis and San Francisco arrived, residents would board the train at Poteau Switch, travel through Cameron, and arrive in Jenson, Arkansas.  Jenson was once a thriving border town, and many speculate that it was established with the sole purpose of supplying whiskey to people living in the Indian Territory. 

The alcohol sold in Jenson was much stronger than what can be found in modern times.  Much of the whiskey sold there was made with raw alcohol, burnt sugar, and a little chewing tobacco.  It took on names such as Tanglefoot, Forty-Rod, Tarantula Juice, Taos Lightning, Red Eye, and Coffin Varnish.

The lax enforcement of the liquor laws mixed with the high content of alcohol made for a deadly brew.  More fights turned deadly because of this than for any other reason.  This, more than anything, was what gave Poteau Switch such a wild reputation. 

This reputation was enhanced by such notorious criminals such as Belle Starr and the Younger Gang.  Outlaws and bandits roamed widely across what would become southeastern Oklahoma.  Forty miles to the east, Robbers cave was made famous as being a haven for outlaws hiding out.  The area around Winding Stair Mountain, twenty-five miles south of Poteau Switch, also offered several well-concealed hideouts.  Outlaws and bandits frequented the area now known as Horsethief Springs.  Youngers Bend, home of Belle Starr and the Younger Gang, lie almost forty miles northeast of town.  As Poteau Switch was one of the fastest growing towns in the area, and since it was in the heart of outlaw country, it’s easy to see why it attracted so many outlaws, bandits, and bootleggers.

The Wanderings of Belle Starr 

The most famous frequent visitor to early day Poteau was Belle Starr.  Sugarloaf Mountain, less than ten miles east of Poteau, is reputed to have been a popular hideout of Belle Starr and other Wild West outlaws. A local rumor says that a group of friends was exploring in the area one day and found a cave that contained saddles and guns.  The legend says that there was a good amount of gold hidden at the rear of the cave, but since the cave has collapsed, this legend remains unproven.

Nearby, there was an old, run down shack where many of the early day outlaws would meet.  Another rumor says that Belle Starr would occasionally go there and stay for extended periods.  While this “hotel” has long since crumbled into dust, its foundation remains.

There are many old stories of early settlers in the area catching a glimpse of Belle Starr passing through Poteau Switch.  While none of these accounts provide many details, it is certain that the frequently visited the town.  Belle Starr was murdered on February 3, 1889.  

One such story of Belle Starr in Poteau came from Mr. R. Lessel, an early day pioneer in the area.  According to an interview done on him in the 1920’s, he recalls seeing Belle Starr in the company of two men.  He and his sister were fishing in James Fork near Rock Island when he saw Belle Starr.  Belle was dressed in men’s clothing, and everyone in her group was all armed with Winchesters and six-shooters.  They paused to let their horses drink as they forded the creek.  They were traveling south on the Old Fort Towson road, probably headed for Horse Thief Springs. 

Another story originated in the area around 1875 when  Belle Starr, along with Sam Starr and Choctaw Charlie held up some travelers from Missouri on their way to Texas.  During the holdup, they took their horses, food, and clothing.  It is claimed that this happened near where Poteau is today and a woman dressed in men's clothing was the leader.

Although Belle Starr wasn’t directly involved in this story, it offers good proof that she frequented the area.  John Middleton, long associated with Belle Starr, reached Shady Point and a short distance to the swollen Poteau River at Hay Ford on Lewis Bend.  Here unexpectedly he was confronted with Sam Starr with a drawn shotgun aimed at his head.  The men argued.  Starr was desperate.  He accused Middleton of stealing his wife after he gave him one chance to leave her alone.  Middleton made a quick draw for his gun and Starr emptied his gun in Middleton's face, blowing away a great portion of it.  Middleton's horse, saddled and bridled, was found the next day, and his body a few hundred yards below the ford by local citizens.  It was buried in a rough pine box in the Hemp Tally grave yard.  An early Poteau newspaper stated that, "The citizens took charge of the race mare which he had stolen in Texas, two ivory handled pistols and a sum of money.  This was all turned over to Dr. Jones, the P. M. at Shady Point and a Texas Sheriff, who had been pursuing Middleton and had the body exhumed.  Not long after the sheriff left, Belle Starr came and demanded all of the property the dead man had that had been turned over to Dr. Jones."

Frank and Jesse James

Jesse James and Frank James were two brothers who were among the most notorious outlaws of the American West.  Their exploits came to represent the hazards of the 19th-century frontier as it has been portrayed in motion picture Westerns.

Reared on a Missouri farm, Frank and Jesse shared their family’s sympathy with the Southern cause during the American Civil War.  When frank joined William C. Quantrill’s Confederate guerrillas, he became friends with Cole Younger, a fellow member.  Jesse followed suit by joining “Bloody” Bill Anderson’s guerrilla band.  At the end of the war, the bands surrendered, but Jesse was reportedly shot and severely wounded by Federal soldiers while under a flag of truce. 

He and Frank, joined by eight other men, began their outlaw career by robbing a bank in Liberty, Missouri on February 13, 1866.  During the same year, Cole Younger joined the gang, with the other Younger brothers following his lead one by one during the next few years. 

The James gang robbed banks from Iowa to Alabama and Texas and began holding up trains in 1873.  The bandits also preyed upon stagecoaches, stores, and individuals.  Throughout their long career and afterward, their exploits were seized upon by writers who exaggerated and romanticized their deeds to meet the demands of Eastern readers for bloody Western tales of derring-do.  To the Missouri Ozark people, Jesse James emerged as a romantic figure, hounded into a life of crime by authorities who never forgave his allegiance to the South.  Jesse and Frank did, in fact, always seek to justify their banditry on grounds of persecution.

On Sept. 7, 1876, the James gang was nearly destroyed while trying to rob the First National Bank at Northfield, Minn.  Of the eight bandits, only the James brothers escaped death or capture.  After gathering a new gang in 1879, the James brothers resumed robbing, and in 1881, Missouri governor Thomas T. Crittenden offered a $10,000 reward for their capture, dead or alive. 

During the 1870's and early 1880's, Frank and Jessie James were known to have roamed throughout the region.  In the book, "A Place Called Poteau", Jim Dennis, an early resident of Poteau, recalls how he saw Frank James trading at Cavanal.  At one time, Cavanal was an early railroad town on the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad, six miles south of Poteau.  Dennis states that he recalls Frank James purchasing groceries at the general mercantile store in Cavanal. 

According to legend, Frank and Jesse James had a secret hideout on Riddle Creek, around 300 feet south of the Indian Territory line.  Riddle Creek, a tributary off the Poteau River just south of Poteau, was well off the beaten path during that time.   

Another legend says that east of Kulley Chaha, two miles in the Sugar Loaf Mountain foothills, the noted outlaws, Frank and Jesse James, had a secret hideout for three years where they secretly slipped away from the gang to rest and relax.  

The rumor also says that that the boys’ hid loot consisting of rings, watches, gold, and silver, all obtained from various train and bank robberies.  A total of $60,000 is hidden at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain.  The ruins of the old hotel that they used as a hiding is visible and the old chimney place and surrounding grounds are pock marked with holes where people have dug.

Another legend claims that a secret stash of gold is located somewhere in the mountainous areas that make up the southern end of LeFlore County.  Other secret stashes have been told of between robbers cave in the west, as well as in various places throughout the mountainous region. 

While living at St. Joseph, Missouri, under the pseudonym of Thomas Howard, the unarmed Jesse was adjusting a picture on the wall in his home when he was shot in the back of the head and instantly killed.  Bob Ford put an end to the James Legend with a single bullet on April 3, 1882.

A few months later, Frank James gave himself up. He was tried for murder in Missouri and found not guilty, tried for robbery in Alabama and found not guilty and finally tried for armed robbery in Missouri and again released. A free man, he retired to a quiet life on his family’s farm, dying in 1915 in the room in which he was born.